CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Lake Erie spring walleye fishing has blossomed all along the Ohio shoreline in recent days, with limit catches and trophy fish reported caught from Cleveland to Toledo.
A cold front and northeast winds will trigger large waves and a Lake Erie small craft advisory for Friday, but light and variable winds are expected to settle the big lake heading into next week. Spawning walleye have also gathered in the near-shore areas of Lake Erie, including the Niagara Reef complex of the Western Basin and in the Sandusky and Maumee rivers.
Much-needed rains are in the forecast, which should boost low water levels in the rivers and streams along the north coast of Ohio, kicking off fresh spawning runs of walleye, steelhead trout and, more recently, smallmouth bass.
Big walleyes in LEWT opener
Ed Oleksy of Solon and his son, Nick, of Streetsboro, checked a tournament limit of five walleye on Saturday weighing 45.05 pounds — an impressive 9-pound average that included the event’s 10.78-pound biggest walleye — to win $16,060 in the season opener of the Lake Erie Walleye Trail at Magee East Marina in Oak Harbor…